"Monday Musings” are designed to get quick, insightful thoughts based around three questions from those interested in strategy, from the most experienced and lauded, to our newest thinkers/writers.

1  — Who had the greatest impact on you intellectually (whether through writing, mentorship, etc.)?

Peter Paret.  He set high standards for intellectual integrity and scholarly thoroughness, which he combined with an ability to bring a detached perspective to his own work.  All this was of inestimable value in my own development.

2  — What book (fiction, history, or academic) do you think best explains strategy?

On War.  Clausewitz's elegantly simple and logically useful definition of strategy as the use of the engagement for the purpose of the war helped set me on a journey that continues today and I hope will endure as long as God gives me breath.

3  — What do you want your legacy to be?

I would like my scholarly legacy to be that the best idea should win - irrespective of its source.

Dr. Harold Winton is Professor of Military History and Theory at the U.S. Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS). He is a retired U.S. Army officer, and a plank holder at both the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) and the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. Dr. Winton's major publications include To Change an Army, Corps Commanders of the Bulge, and The Challenge of Change: Military Institutions and New Realities, 1918-1941. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

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